A Real vacation

Okay well here I am on the Queen Charlotte Islands. If you're wondering where that it...it's just off the coast of Prince Rupert, B.C. We have a cabin out here that my Dad has turned into a B&B and I haven't been out here for such a long time..probably a little over 5 years. S I am amazed at what he has done to this place. To kick off the vacation my Mom, Dad and I went down to the Tlell Fall Fair. This is an annual festival that happens and it acually pretty good. They always have singer come and perform and there is great food, crafts and a little crafty exhibit that you can enter things you have cooked, created, grown or own and then they are judged. Quite nice and very little town style. Oh did I mention that this entire island's population is 5000...thats right. If you look at this island on a map it is considerbly larger than Vancouver Island. Anyways, here the life style is very isolated and untouched from modern world. Weed flows freely, hitchhiking is a common form of transportation and its common to not own a razor. There is no movie theaters or very many ATMs, but lots of shops and a never ending amount of fihing and crabbing. It's a very nice place but in need of a younger crowd that aren't hippies...not that I have a problem with them. Anyways, I feel good about finally settling down after a very hectic few weeks of travelling and now I am preparing for Las Vegas. I am hopefully going to make a huge stop in GP for maybe 2 days! I must see everyone and then I am driving down to Nevada with my parents...I know it sounds cazy but it'll be alright...I have faith. Talk to you later.

Halfway my travelling

Okay well right now I am wondering why travelling a lot only sounds cool...the actual travelling is really long, and tiring. To bring everyone up-to-date on my last week...I left vancouver last Tuesday (July 19) and I spent the entire day flying...making wonderful stops in Calgary, Saskatoon, and then finally Winnipeg. In each place I had a 3 hour lay-over...fun fun. Then I swam at Club Nats...whoch did not go well at all! My taper didn't kick in...if you don't understand that, well I'm not going to explain it. Then I flew out on Monday morning from Winnipeg back to Calgary to pick up my very loaded up car...but before I could do that I had to make a wonderful stop in Regina where I was orginally going to have a 7 hour lay-over...seriously c'mon! But luckily I got on stand-by and it turned out to only be a 3 hour lay-over. So I arrived back in Calgary and I stayed the night at my Uncle's. The next morning I got in my super-packed car and took off to Edmonton where my Mom was swimming in the World Master Games! I was really excited to see that. So I got there yesterday...very tired. But today I got to see her swim today and she was amazing...all the ladies were. But I just pulled into GP about 20 minutes ago and I am waiting for my Mom...she drove up in her car. I am heading out AGAIN tomorrow with Mom to go to the Charlottes...but hopefully that will go quickly. Our goal is Saturday ferry. So I am off once again and I half-way done my travelling...my last two trips will be the return from the QCI and then the one down to Las Vegas...thats right...I'm driving down to Las Vegas...dumb? Yes, yes it is. Okay well I'm out...I have limited GP time. So Hopefully I can say bye to everyone...if not. Love you guys!

Time to Jet

Okay well my time here in vancouver is basically up and I have to say, despite this place being a great place...I miss home. I Miss my Mom for sure...gonna be 3 months since I've seen her. I miss Alberta. Mountains and water is nice...but I miss fields and cows. Plus I get to see the rest of my family and all my friends. Then mommy and I take a road trip together...which we both agree is going to awesome! Then I am off to Las Vegas. I really am nervous and excited about this new chapter in my life...gonna be quite an adventure. I am rounding out my days here with small packing...dinners with friends. Tai came over for a 24 hour visit to say our goodbyes...I am going to the island tomorrow for the day...say hi and bye to Coach Andy ad just check out the area. Then I will be slowly pakcing my stuff and then I'm off early Tuesday morning to Winnipeg. I am excited to see what this meet brings. But I have had quite the experiences here and I feel that I am a true downtown Vancouver...person. I can't wait till next summer when I come back...oh yeah plans are already in the making. Love you all lots..talk to you guys soon.

2 Weeks and Counting

Okay well I'm kinda on my last stretch of my stay here in vancouver. I have started taper for Club Nats and I am hopefully going to start healing my body up. I am hurting so much all the time. I have today off though. Janusz decided a good way to kick off our taper is a day and a half off of swimming...but now with such short notice I don't know what to do. I have a couple options but I need time to plan. Oh well we'll see. I am excited about going to my meet and then going to see my family and spend time with them...I miss you guys so much.

Oh and now my fun girls trip. Last weekend I went with 2 girlfriends of mine to Kelowna for Canada Day. Caleigh drove from Merritt to pick me and Tai up. Tai is from Victoria and she took the ferry over and I took the sky train to Surrey where we all met. We had a beautiful reunion and I couldn't believe how much I missed those girls. After we all had our loving embrace we packed up and began to drive back to Merritt for Caleigh to coach at 3:30. The drive was so beautiful! Nothing like our straight road in Alberta! It was also raining quite a bit so the trip was tough but none-the-less fun. We joked and laughed the entire way just talking about past memories. I love them so much! When we arrived in Merritt we did a little drive around and checked out the locals. We then went to the pool where Caleigh coached and Tai and I took a little dip in the pool. It's funny going to a small town like Merritt....they know that you are an outsider and they stare a lot. We hung aorund until caleigh was almost done coaching and then Tai and I went across the street (a street Caleigh refused to walk and instead drove her car!) where we waited and ordered appys to hold us over. Okay so now we joined up with another coach Alex that works with Caleigh. On our drive to Kelowna Tai got to see her first Moose ever! She almost cried...her eyes welled up. It was so cute...she got to see 2 1/2 because the Mom's legs we only visable. Very cool experience. We also all had a great time in Caleigh's amazing Mazda 323..its a beast and so we named it Bertha. Okay so just a little bragging here...I think that us girls had the most memorable entry into a city...EVER! This guy decied to show us that he had no pants on and stcuk his feet out the window to reveal that they we down around his ankles...Welcome to Kelowna!! On Canada Day We decided that we would hit up the mall then go to the beach. We spent forever at the mall where we tried on so many clothes right in the middle of the store...what can I say? We are impatient...we were wearing our bikini's anyways! Gotta say though, we sure made an impression on the women there! Then we headed to the beach where there was so many things going on, markets, concerts, games, food, so mnay things. We hung out there and took a dive into the lake man was it cold. Then we went and saw a concert in the park and then we headed back for supper. Then we went to see the fireworks later which were nice...we also ran into a few Lethbridge Guys...some from the basketball team! We chatted and then they told us about this club that we should go to. We went hit up the dancing and then hitched a ride home from some girls...this time I was the hitchhiker Mom so no worries! We got to meet Caleigh's family the next...the whole family. We learned to tie cherry stems into knots...not as sexy as we thought, we went swimming more...plus "special swimming" and he of course hit on millions of guys this weekend. Overall I had the best weekend ever! Thank you girls! Okay this is way too long and its beautiful outside so ciao!